Page 110 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(1) (2024)

in the epidemiological and ecological process, they had been bitten by tsetse flies. However,
which makes it difficult to pin it down (Dietmar some scholars are of the view that animal tryp-
2008). The earliest report on human trypanoso- anosomiasis (Nagana) was predominant in East
miasis can be traced to the Arabic historians who Africa long before the nineteenth century. This
described the death of King Diatta II, sultan of is due to the fact that pastoralism existed in the
Mali, in 1373 (Steverding 2008). Nash (1969) and region centuries earlier (Nash 1969). For exam-
Brun et al. (2010) have reported that trypanoso- ple, archaeological evidence has proven that pas-
miasis as an epidemic disease ravaged the con- toralism existed in East Africa before the fif-
tinent in three different periods. The first was teenth century (Smith 1992).
from 1896 to 1906, which killed over 800,000 Concerning East Africa, Graboyes (2010)
people. The second phase of the epidemic was reported that the term ‘sleeping sickness’ is used
from the 1920s to the late ’40s, which prompt- to refer to two distinct forms of human trypa-
110 ed the colonial administration to invest in vector nosomiasis. The first is trypanosoma brucei rho-
control and spraying programmes. The effective- desiense, which is the form that occurs across
ness of these aggressive actions reflected positive- parts of Eastern and Southern Africa. TB rho-
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 12 (2024), številka 1 / volume 12 (2024), number 1
ly in the 1960s (Brun et al. 2010). The third pe- desiense is transmitted by tsetse flies that live in
riod was from the beginning of the 1990s. The woodland regions. Graboyes (2010) further ar-
emergence of trypanosomiasis in the 1990s was gues that it is particularly acute, typically killing
as a result of the collapse of surveillance and con- infected individuals in a matter of weeks. This
trol activities in most endemic countries. This strain is in contrast to the other forms of sleeping
was often exacerbated by civil warfare (Brun et sickness that affect parts of Central and West-
al. 2010). In several respects, there has been con- ern Africa. In particular, that strain (TB gambi-
tinuous controversy about how to control the ense) is transmitted by tsetse flies that reside near
disease of trypanosomiasis, and this has caused a water sources, and represents a more chronic dis-
great constraint in economic development on the order. Moreover, it is noted that people who are
continent of Africa. Coker et al. (2011), and Zins- infected with TB gambiense have been known
stag et al. (2011), among others, have argued that to live for years after being bitten by an infect-
trypanosomiasis is an ideal candidate for what ed tsetse fly. However, the ultimate outcome of
some have called a ‘One Health’ approach, espe- both forms of sleeping sickness is death (Graboy-
cially given the interaction of humans, animals es 2010, 2).
and eco-systems. The rate of infection and dis- Making inferences from the above, trypano-
tribution is largely and widely based on the dif- somiasis might have existed long before Living-
ferent fly vectors that are highly dependent on a stone’s discovery. However, it was in the 1900s
particular habitat for their survival. Indeed, eco- when former research on the disease came to
logical and land-use change has a major impact light. In 1901, the first unequivocal observation
on the population, including associated disease of trypanosomiasis in human blood was made
risk (Zinsstag et al. 2011). by the British colonial surgeon Robert Michael
In addition, the Scottish missionary Da- Ford when he examined a steamboat Captain in
vid Livingstone (1813–1875) is credited to be the Gambia. It was the English physician, Joseph Er-
first to discover the nagama trypanosome in East erett Dutton, who identified them as trypano-
Africa. He suggested that it is caused by the bite somes a few months later and also proposed in
of the tsetse fly (Steverding 2008). In 1852, he re- 1902 the species name trypanosoma gambiense
ported the occurrence of the disease in the val- (T.B Gambiense). In 1903, Castelli and Bruce
leys of the Limpopo and Zambesi rivers as well discovered trypanosomes as the causative agent
as the banks of the lake of Nyasa and Tangyay- of the disease and the tsetse fly was seen as the
ika, from which all cattle he carried died after main vector (Coghe 2017).